Saturday, April 13, 2013

The sweet smell of success, the bitter taste of defeat

After the resounding success that was the YOU ARE THE HERO Kickstarter I had great hopes for Clemency Slaughter and the Legacy of D'Eath, partly because it was a collaboration (so should reach a wider audience), partly because I thought various communities on Facebook would get behind it (which they didn't), and partly because we were asking for less money than I had with YOU ARE THE HERO. However, it was not to be.

The publisher Ian Whates and myself have already discussed running the Kickstarter again, in a couple of months time (possibly to coincide with the Nine Worlds Geek Fest), and the artist Tom Brown has said he hopes to work on some more of the artwork for the project between commissions.

Some fans of the project have suggested Unbound as a possible funding source but that's not something we've had a chance to discuss yet. And we did end up with 90 backers, many of whom were very passionate about the project.

Thank you, if you were one of them, and hang on in there - Clemency Slaughter's not dead and buried yet...

Please remember, if you have pledged and the project doesn't fund, you will not be charged a penny (or a cent, or whatever your smallest monetary denomination happens to be), so if you've been umm-ing and ahh-ing, don't dilly dally any more and pledge your support today.

Also, people pledging gives us the best indicator of how much interest there is in the project, should we decide to run it again in the future (if it doesn't fund by 1.00pm GMT tomorrow).

Monday, April 1, 2013

YOU ARE THE HERO Fighting Fantasy Art Prints

If you pledged your support to the YOU ARE THE HERO Kickstarter at the GHOUL reward level or above, then you will be receiving one print - or maybe more, depending on how much you pledged - of a piece of artwork by one of these fabulous Fighting Fantasy artists.

Russ Nicholson

Iain McCaig

Martin McKenna

Tony Hough

Iain's print is of the Dwarf Trialmaster from Ian Livingstone's Deathtrap Dungeon.

Tony's print is of the still undead pirate captain Cinnabar from Bloobones.

However, Martin's and Russ's prints are going to of brand new artwork that is being commissioned for YOU ARE THE HERO, the definitive history of Fighting Fantasy gamebooks. Martin's artwork will form the cover of the book, while Russ's illustration will be in his classic Fighting Fantasy style and will appear inside.

I realise that it's hard ordering a print you've never seen - even if you are a massive fan of Martin's or Russ's artwork - so the survey will give you the option of not deciding yet and once the artwork's done, you can make your choice then, at a later date.

About Me

I am a freelance writer and editor, well known for my contributions to the Fighting Fantasy range of adventure gamebooks. I have also written for such diverse properties as Sonic the Hedgehog, Doctor Who, Star Wars and Games Workshop's worlds of Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000.
I am the creator of the alternative steampunk universe of Pax Britannia, and have written eight novels featuring the debonair dandy adventurer Ulysses Quicksilver.
As well as my fiction work, I have also written a number of non-fiction books including 'Match Wits with the Kids', 'What is Myrrh Anyway? Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Christmas' and 'YOU ARE THE HERO - A History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks'.